We are very happy to introduce the talented designers and engineers that were added to the FLEX team lately. This is senior engineer Niels Knippenberg.
What can you tell us about your background? After my IPD graduation I had a brief fling in the aeronautic sector, but quickly I went working for Ampelmann. I have been traveling all over the world putting the Ampelmann machines to work on offshore vessels for the last five years, so mainly dealing with operational tasks, client contact, etc. In the past period, I got the itch to go back doing what I love, which is designing and engineering.
Why did you pick this field as a career? Ever since my age was in single digits when I was asked ‘what I wanted to become when I grew up,’ I said “Architect for things!” Later on, I found out that it is called something different, but the idea remained the same. Since I knew this clearly from such a young age I found all career-choice-guidance courses very boring, except for when we could go on internship-for-a-day-trip during high school; I went to Flex! Back then it was still located in the center of Delft.
Why did you choose FLEX? I’ve always found the work of Flex inspiring, and in a right-time-right-place manner, we found each other. I’m really happy and grateful that I found this opportunity.
What can we expect from you? I have a good eye for the details, love elegant and efficient solutions to complex problems, and making other people happy with beautiful stuff in general. Probably most important is having fun with the entire team while doing so.
What do you like to do outside of work? I’m a fan of boardriding sports (snow, wind, wave, kite) and trail running. I love to throw everything in my van and drive to alps or ocean and chase the weather. I rather consume food than prepare it, and single malt Scotch is for celebrating times.